Highly conductive metals have been used to form conducting components such as heat spreaders and heat sinks for high power electronic packaging and other thermal management applications. In some applications, metal matrix composites (MMC's) formed by adding particulate fillers to a metal matrix have been used to optimize the properties of a conducting component to suit the requirements of a particular application. By properly selecting a particulate filler and a metal matrix, material properties can be controlled. For example, SiC particles have been added to an aluminum matrix to improve the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), stiffness, and wear resistance as compared to pure aluminum. However, in general, the thermal conductivity of Al/SiC MMC's do not meet desired expectations. Additionally, graphite and carbon nanotube MMC's have been developed. However, these MMC's can experience mechanical stress problems associated with the poor shear stress characteristics. Furthermore, carbon nanotubes are an expensive filler material.
There is a need for an improved material for conducting heat away from heat generating components such as semiconductor devices.